Daily Pulse: What You’d Give Up To Be Thin

For so many women, the launch of summer isn’t met with excitement, but rather dread. Why? Three words. Bathing suit season. And now a new poll from FitSugar and Shape magazine reveals just how far we’d go to get a “perfect” body: 68% of women would give up sex for at least a month in exchange for their ideal beach body. According to the survey, 82% of women say they feel overly pressured to slim down before summer. Plus, 50% of women say they hate their abs, while 29% revealed they’re most insecure about their thighs.

The way your doctor takes notes could affect the way she cares for you, finds a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association that looked at 18,569 doctor-patient visits. Doctors who take patient notes by dictating them—reading them over a phone, which is then transcribed into an electronic record—give lower quality of care to their patients, compared with doctors who take notes and separate them into sections, such as family history or present illness. Study authors say that doctors who dictate may not be paying as close attention to information and alerts in the electronic health record.

Most of us believe that proper dental care means flossing and brushing at least twice a day, and those who are especially diligent may brush more often, particularly after sugary snacks and meals. But research shows that brushing too soon after meals and drinks, especially those that are acidic, can do more harm than good: Acid attacks the teeth, eroding enamel and the layer below it, called dentin—and brushing can accelerate this process. Bottom line: Wait at least 30 minutes after a meal to brush.

The benefits of hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) outweigh the risks for women who start it near menopause, finds a series of articles in the journal Climacteric, a publication of the International Menopause Society. This corrects the widespread impression left by the Women’s Health Initiative 10 years ago that suggested that women taking estrogen-and-progestin replacement had a higher rate of heart disease, stroke, and breast cancer—scaring away millions of women and their doctors from using HRT. In the years since then, reappraisals of that report shows that those risks pertained mainly to women who started the therapy long after menopause: The average woman in the study was 12 years past menopause when treatment began. Turns out that for most women starting treatment near menopause, the benefits outweigh the risks for relief of hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, and reducing the risks of heart disease and fractures.

McDonald's Corp investors soundly rejected a shareholder proposal—backed by the business watchdog group Corporate Accountability International and endorsed by 2,500 healthcare professionals—that would have required the world's biggest fast-food chain to assess its impact on childhood obesity. The shareholder proposal, which also failed last year, returned amid growing concern over the social and financial costs of obesity. Nearly one-third of US children are overweight or obese, and a 2006 report requested by Congress found that junk food marketing contributes to an increasing epidemic of childhood obesity. The proposal asked the company to issue a report that would evaluate how diet-related illness would affect the company's profit. McDonald’s voted “no,” calling such a report "unnecessary and redundant."

A new study suggests that people with type 2 diabetes should be screened for colon cancer at younger ages than is usually recommended. Researchers found that people in their 40s with type 2 diabetes are about as likely to have precancerous colon growths as people in their 50s without diabetes. How come? Experts suspect the link is due to people with diabetes having abnormally high levels of insulin in their blood, and insulin can fuel the growth of precancerous and cancer cells.

Memorial Day weekend means it's the unofficial start of summer, aka grilling season. So how about celebrating the season with a veggie burger instead of the usual hamburger? When you think about it, the human, environmental, and animal impacts of a hamburger aren’t exactly appetizing: From artery-clogging saturated fat and cholesterol, to animal agriculture contributing more to global warming than transportation, to the simple fact that animal products are more expensive than plant foods. Check out these 10 veggie burger recipes that are versatile enough to please anyone in your crowd. Happy grilling!

If you’re a dog owner, chances are, bath time goes something like this: Luring your unsuspecting 60-pound mutt Mildred (who has an unfortunate aversion to smelling presentable) into the bathroom, wrestling her into the tub (complete with fur, water, and bubbles flying), and resulting in your getting almost as soaked as the bathroom—and the rest of the house after your soggy doggy flees the torture. In other words, it’s probably nothing like this video of a pampered pooch delirious with delight to be soaking in a bubble bath. Go ahead, grab Mildred and watch together to see how good—or less terrible—bath time could be.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Prevention participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.